Students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) may be selected for “verification.” The Department of Education selects certain FAFSAs to be verified and places them into 1 of 5 verification groups. The Office of Financial Aid is required to verify that the data submitted on the FAFSA is accurate and true. Not all students are selected for verification; it is important for students to check their Student Aid Report (SAR) which is provided by the Department of Education. The SAR will be sent to the email provided on your FAFSA within approximately 3-5 days after submitting your FAFSA. If your EFC has an asterisk (*) next to it, you have been selected for verification.

Students selected for verification are required to submit documentation to the Office of Financial Aid based on their verification group. Use the“Check My Aid Status” link in your SCORE account to determine which verification group you were placed in.

The Office of Financial Aid is responsible for comparing the documentation to the information provided on the FAFSA. Additional documentation may be requested. Make sure all required and additional documentation is submitted to our office as soon as possible. Verification can take 4-6 weeks to complete after all documentation is received. Eligibility cannot be determined and aid cannot be awarded until the verification is complete. All documentation is mandated by the Federal Government, refusal to submit the necessary documentation will prohibit any federal student aid from being awarded.

Once the data has been verified, our office will make any necessary corrections on the FAFSA. The corrections are then sent to the Department of Education; processing can take 3-5 business days for the corrected FAFSA to be received.

Available online at www.IRS.gov, by phone at 1-800-908-9946, or at your local IRS Office* (see chart below) 1040’s will not be accepted.

Additional documentation may be requested by our office depending on the student's particular circumstance please monitor the "Check My Aid Status" link often once documentation has been submitted for updates, document requests and results.

If you (the student) or your parent(s)/spouse did not file a tax return, or is unable to retrieve their Tax Return Transcript due to an unusual circumstance; see review the different catorgories below to determine what documentation will have to be submitted to our office.

Verification of 2014 Income Information for Individuals with Unusual Circumstances

Individuals Granted a Filing Extension by the IRS

If you or your parent(s)/spouse are required to file a 2014 IRS income tax return and have been granted an extension by the IRS, please provide the following documents:

A copy of IRS Form 4868, ‘‘Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,’’ that was filed with the IRS for tax year 2014;

A copy of the IRS's approval of an extension beyond the automatic six-month extension if the individual requested an additional extension of the filing time for tax year 2014; and

A copy of IRS Form W–2 for each source of employment income received for tax year 2014 and, if self-employed, a signed statement certifying the amount of the individual’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and the U.S. income tax paid for tax year 2014.

Individuals Who Filed an Amended IRS Income Tax Return

If you or your parent(s)/spouse filed an amended IRS income tax return for tax year 2014, please provide both of the following:

A copy of the original 2014 IRS Tax Return Transcript for the 2014 tax year; and

A signed copy of the 2014 IRS Form 1040X, “Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,” that was filed with the IRS.

Individuals Who Were Victims of IRS Identity Theft

A victim of IRS identity theft who is not able to obtain a 2014 IRS Tax Return Transcript or use the IRS DRT must contact the IRS at 1-800-908-4490. Upon authentication of the tax filer’s identity, the IRS will provide, by U.S. Postal Service, a printout of the tax filer’s 2014 IRS income tax return information.

Individuals Who Filed Non-IRS Income Tax Returns

An individual filed or will file a 2014 income tax return with Puerto Rico, another U.S. territory (e.g., Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Marianas Islands), or with a foreign country, must provide a signed copy of that 2014 income tax return(s).

Verification documentation is mandated by the Federal Government. Our office is required to obtain all necessary information before Federal Student Aid eligibility can be determined.

Deadlines

The verification process can take up to 4-6 weeks to complete once documentation has been submitted. Priority deadlines to turn in verification documents are:

Documents turned in after the priority deadline will result in a delay of the completion of the verification process, thereby preventing the financial aid award to be processed by the payment deadline for the semester in which the student is enrolled.